Chris Herren, Project Purple making a difference

Chris Herren continues to speak and Chris Herren continues to make a difference. Herren, a Durfee High School graduate who played for the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets, only to have his NBA career derailed by subtance abuse issues, was on hand at Friday night’s NECBL baseball game between the New Bedford Bay Sox and the Vermont Mountaineers, tossing out the first pitch at Paul Walsh Field.

Chris Herren continues to speak and Chris Herren continues to make a difference.

Herren, a Durfee High School graduate who played for the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets, only to have his NBA career derailed by subtance abuse issues, was on hand at Friday night’s NECBL baseball game between the New Bedford Bay Sox and the Vermont Mountaineers, tossing out the first pitch at Paul Walsh Field.

The Bay Sox fell to the Mountaineers 7-5.

Herren as invited by the team to help promote Project Purple, a foundation created by Herren to help raise awareness about the impact of substance abuse and shed light on effective treatment.

Herren was the subject of ‘Unguarded,” an ESPN documentary that highlighted his struggles with drug addiction, how he rebounded and is now touring the country telling his story.

“I travel 15 to 20 days a month and speak about 20 to 30 times a month,” said Herren prior to Friday’s game. “It’s a lot bigger than I ever expected it to be. I am booked until next April. I have to pinch myself.”

He speaks at various schools throughout the country and his engagements have also included numerous professional sports teams. He will be speaking to the incoming NFL rookies for the second straight year.

“I’ve spoken to the Red Sox, Patriots, Packers, Royals, Bears,” said Herren, rattling off just a few of the teams that have hired him. “It’s not just the players, sometimes it’s the people they know. In Chicago, there was a DB whose mother was addicted to crack cocaine and we helped her.

“Every day I get a message from someone who says we have helped them. It’s a great feeling to know you’re making a difference.”

In ‘Unguarded,’ Herren recalled a time when he was playing for the Celtics and bailed out during pregame warmups to go hunt for his drug dealer.

“To a heroin addict, they won’t see anything wrong with that,” Herren said. “I was there.”

Herren knows what he had as a professional basketball player and doesn’t dwell on it. He also knows what he has now – the ability to help someone who was once in his shoes.

“Nobody wakes up and says ‘I can’t wait to lose everything today,’” Herren said. “So may people are affected by (substance abuse) and it’s OK to say you’re affected by it.”

Mike Thomas is the sports editor of The Herald News. Email him at mthomas@heraldnews.com. Follow him on twitter @NostraThomasHN